There is a lot of focus on Literacy skills – and so there should be BUT numeracy is equally important and the embedding of those basic skills in the early years is really important.
However, many parents may feel that numeracy doesn’t play a role in home readers and sight words BUT it can.
- Count the letters in each word in the selected group of sight words. Group them according the number of letters in each group.
- Clap out and talk about or write down the amount of syllables in each word.
- Stretch out each word and count how many sounds there are in the word as opposed to just letters. (e.g. shop has ‘sh’ ‘o’ ‘p’)
When reading:
- Look at the page numbers – discuss odd and even numbers. Look at how many pages there are and count on from the last number.
- How many illustrations are in the story?
- How many full stops?
- How long is the book? Use informal measurements such as fingerspaces before you measure in centimetres.
- How heavy is the book? What might it weigh the same as?
- What shape is the book? What else is shaped like this? Count sides and then think about why books are square and not triangle or circular!
And perhaps consider this article, a very good reason to help your child to love mathematics: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/a-dire-lack-of-interest-in-students-wanting-to-pursue-maths-careers-20170330-gv9pwa.html
